


Christmas, Proposals, and Weddings

by AbeTheDadtm



Series: Poe Party Sequel Fics [2]
Category: Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, and ACK, and christmas, and makeovers, and proposals, and wedding stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-22 03:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12472432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbeTheDadtm/pseuds/AbeTheDadtm
Summary: In which HG meets himself, Lenore and Annabel arrange a wedding, Edgar Allan Poe is proposed to, Fyodor and Emily kiss, Mary Shelley and Oscar Wilde force Mary Anne into a makeover, and Ernest Hemingway gives a drunken speechA sequel to Spirits, Good and Bad. A fluffier sequel.





	Christmas, Proposals, and Weddings

**Author's Note:**

> In which Emily and Fyodor tell each other the truth, Annabel and Edgar clean up, and HG makes a deal.

The lights flickered back on, and everyone sighed in relief. Guy de Vere was gone for good. Banished along with his brother. Finally.

After the tentative silence, the odd importance of what had just happened sunk in, and Emily's anxiety came. She also realized that Fyodor's hand was on her shoulder, and she quickly pulled away, clutching the book to her chest. She felt her cheeks warm even though she knew she couldn't blush anymore.

Annabel smiled and approached her. Without a warning, she wrapped her arms around Emily and hugged her. Emily stepped back and yelped in shock, and while she didn't hug back, she didn't resist either. She smiled awkwardly until Annabel pulled back. "That was amazing! You were so wonderful, Emily! Thank you!"

Emily nodded, though she didn't feel wonderful. All she did was read a book. And yet she still got praise, which felt especially foreign amongst the group. Mary Anne smiled and gave her a quick hug, talking about how fantastic she was, how grateful they all were. Mary Shelley patted her on the shoulder and said, "I couldn't have done it better myself," even though she did it in the middle of a near tornado while Emily was hiding away in Fyodor's coat -- no, let's not think about him, you're blushing even more now. Even Edgar awkwardly nodded and said, "Thank you, Emily."

Emily felt terrified. She wanted to retreat to her room. Or tell everyone that she didn't _really_ deserve their smiles and thank-yous. But she nodded and sucked up the praise, reminding herself that she probably wasn't going to get any attention like this for the rest of eternity.

But still, she wanted to leave. As soon as Annabel wondered if anyone could go get Lenore and HG, she leapt at the chance. "I'll go!"

"Oh, thank you," Annabel said sweetly. She took the book from Emily's grasp. "They're probably near the park."

"Alright, I'll check there," Emily replied, nodding. She had a hand on the doorknob when someone interrupted.

"Would you mind if I go with?" Fyodor asked.

Emily silently cursed to herself. The last thing she wanted was someone stewing in her thoughts with her. But there was still something inside of her that made her say, "No, feel free."

They stepped out of the house together. The area was quiet and still, save for the gentle snowfall. Emily didn't know her way around very well, though she had gone to the park once or twice when the privacy of her tiny room wasn't quite enough for her to clear her thoughts, so she could find her way there. Fyodor opened the gate to the house for her, and she nodded and led him down the sidewalk towards the park. They had to stand close together to fit on the narrow path, and while Emily knew this should have bothered her, it didn't really. Her shoulder pressed against his arm slightly, sometimes his hand brushed against her skirt. It was odd but oddly pleasant. She liked it.

There were some odd passers-by, mostly neighbors who already knew of the ghosts' existence. They waved, and Emily and Fyodor waved back. There were carriages and cars on the streets. Emily and Fyodor didn't speak, even though Emily felt like she should've initiated conversation. She didn't have the courage to. She didn't know what to say.

They reached the park. The place was expansive, crisscrossed with walking paths and ponds and trees and shrubs. Emily didn't know where to begin looking, so she just kept on walking and figured they'd find them somewhere.

After a moment, Fyodor said, "This place is beautiful."

Emily nodded. "It is. Does it remind you of home?"

"Not really. Home...home feels so far away. So much happened that I hardly remember." His face took on a sad look, and he sighed. "Though there is much that I do not wish to remember."

"I'm sorry." Emily flashed a smile at him. The silence returned.

"I must confess something." Fyodor stopped. Emily froze. She twisted the fabric of her dress in her fingers. Fyodor folded his arms in front of his chest, then hid his hands in his pockets, then behind his back. He took a deep breath and he said, "My feelings for you have turned from friendship towards something more...romantic."

It took every fiber of her being for Emily not to go wide-eyed. Oh, she was an idiot! Why didn't she see it before? The out-of-nowhere attention, the borrowed book, the odd touches and stares, the fluttering of her imagined heart. He liked her. In _that_ way.

"I am sorry if I was too frank," Fyodor looked down.

"No, it's okay." Emily thought about his hand on her shoulder. How it didn't feel sudden or strange. How it kept her mind from falling into a pit of fear, of anxiety, of what-if-this-isn't-working, what-if-I'm-failing-everyone. She took his hand in hers. "I think I like that."

Fyodor's face lit up like a child's. "I'm glad you feel that way."

They walked hand-in-hand until they found HG and Lenore.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Everyone else went away to their separate rooms, and Annabel and Edgar returned to the study to help clean up.

"I'll take care of it," Edgar said with a rough sigh as he knelt to pick up a shard of glass.

"Absolutely not," Annabel said, swatting Edgar's hand away and grabbed the glass herself. She felt a slight prickle of memory as she realized how much like her mother she sounded. Annabel took a deep breath and added. "I'm sorry. You take care of all the books and things and let me handle the glass." She picked up the chunk, the sharp edges fading through her hand slightly. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

Edgar nodded and obeyed. They worked silently, returning books to their places, taking the glass to the dustbin, sweeping and mopping and adjusting. 

"Do you think we should tell Ernest and Oscar what happened?" Annabel asked as Edgar sunk into the chair. "They ought to know about Eddie, at least."

"I don't know," said Edgar as he rubbed his face with his hands. "They might tell someone."

"We can trust them," Annabel said, sitting down next to Edgar. "Besides, I'd like to see them again."

Edgar groaned but Annabel rolled her eyes and nudged him. "Christmas is coming, Edgar. We ought to make plans, and they're as much family as any of the other ghosts are."

Edgar paused, then nodded. "Fine. But only because you asked."

Annabel smiled. "I love you, Edgar."

"I love you, too," Edgar said with a sigh. He took her hand in his, this time moving naturally rather than forcing it. She squeezed, he squeezed back.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
HG didn't know how much time had passed between leaving and being called back. Emily and Fyodor just sort of appeared, out of nowhere. They told them about the exorcism -- Fyodor bragged about Emily having performed it, Emily rolled her eyes and said it wasn't that impressive, just some words in a book -- and then they led them back into the house.

Lenore pointed to the two as they walked. They were holding hands and talking excitedly about Shakespeare. "Are they..." she whispered.

HG shrugged. "I guess so."

Once they returned to the house, Lenore left to clean up the kitchen, while HG went up to the attic. It felt so long since he was up here, even though he had been there that morning. HG went to the worktable Lenore had set up for him and went about sorting through the piles of junk. It took a while longer than he liked -- he still had trouble with picking up things -- but eventually, the area was cleaned and arranged the way he liked it.

There was a knock on the door, soft and short. Lenore never knocked, and no one else really came up here, so HG didn't know who it was. "Come in," HG said.

The door creaked open -- now that he could pick up things, maybe he could get that fixed -- and Annabel came up the stairs. "Hello. Do you mind if I come in and speak with you?"

"Of course not, Annabel." HG nervously stood and plucked a box labelled "LID" and a poker set from a chair by the bed. "Here's a seat." He set the boxes by the foot of the bed and returned to his worktable. 

Annabel sat down, her dress flouncing around her. "So...Christmas is approaching..."

HG nodded. "Do you want me to make something?"

"Yes," Annabel said. "I was hoping if you could help me with decorations and gifts for everybody and maybe, um..."

"Maybe what?" HG raised an eyebrow.

Annabel's fingers wrapped around the hem of her skirt, scrunching and folding it in her hands. "A proposal for Edgar?"

"You're proposing to _him_?"

"I know, I know, that's not how it's supposed to work," Annabel said. "But I'm dead! I don't have to worry about that kind of thing. And...I don't know. I just feel like I should be the one doing it."

HG nodded. "I was thinking about proposing to Lenore, too, but...I don't know. It's so soon."

Annabel gasped. "Wait. Like the future thing you saw?"

HG paused, but then nodded. His accidental time travelling to the house was in the middle of winter. Was it coming up soon? It was. It must've been.

He had to. He knew he did.

"Well, if you help me with my proposal, I'll help you with yours. Deal?" She stood and extended a hand.

HG smiled and nodded, standing and shaking her hand. "Deal."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: the LID box and the poker set I mentioned were real things from the show. I got the commentary bonuses and Mary Kate Wiles mentioned a box in the attic labelled "LID" that was right behind Sinead's head at one point. According to her, it was the worst. Plus, there was also a poker set I saw by HG when he popped out somewhere. It was mentioned by the cast as well.


End file.
